The Two Sons of the Roman Empire
by TheEmptyBarrel
Summary: Discontinued , new version coming out in a few centuries. Feel free to read though
1. Chapter 1 : The Start

**_A__ part of my essay with Castro that I'm gonna finish with more details , changes , and such. _**  
**_Enjoy. [NOTICE : HISTORICAL FICTION THAT HAS NEARLY NOTHING TO DO WITH ACTUAL HISTORY]_**

It was the first century in the Ancient Roman Empire. It was Rome's finest century when their mighty empire stood invincible. Peace and prosperity spread heavenly through out the great empire. But peace and prosperity would soon end for the Ancient Romans.

It was Placus Maximus's reign as the Roman Emperor. He had a wife and 2 young sons , Flavius Maximus and Quintus Maximus. His two son's were usual brothers you would see. They fought over toys and such , talked , laughed. Quintus was usually more better mannered than his brother Flavius , who was usually more ill mannered. When they got older it showed tremendously.

Their arguments of the future Roman Empire grew more often and often. When the grand advisor of Placus Maximus , Regulus , told his emperor his worries , Placus seemed to brush it away from his shoulders. "Worry not they'll figure out a way despite their showing of immaturity now." he had said to Regulus. It was soon after the arguments of the two brothers grew louder did that seem false.

It was evening ,Quintus was reading a book about Alexander II Of Macedon in his room. His windows was open , letting the glorious sunlight in from a perfect blue sky. Birds were chirping , sounds of a working ancient city was heard near the Roman palace. Horses walking , swords being crafted , talking of merchants and many more.  
It was indeed a fine day , Quintus put his book down on his wooden table and stood up to stretch against the gentle cooling breeze.  
"I wonder when this peaceful moment will end." he thought. He chuckled softly to himself.

Ironically enough , suddenly there was a scream of seemingly half excitement and terror. Someone burst into his room , followed by someone else. It was his two younger cousins , Marcus and Julia. Marcus wore a toga with some parts of it purple and had short hair , Julia also wore a toga that had purple , and had long brown hair.(_Purple was a royal color back then_.)

The two brother and sisters and cousins of Quintus were seeming playing tag , with a spider. Marcus had a spider and was chasing a screaming Julia around the room. That was , knocking things down in Quintus's room.  
"Oh please , STOP! FOR THE GOD'S SAKE!" Quintus yelled. He took the spider Marcus was holding and threw it out the window , which probably got on some servant's head because he heard a scream afterwards. Marcus's face of joy and laughter soon changed , he then got on the floor and screamed. It didn't look good after.

**_Hope you enjoyed , my very first chapter made on this site! Chapter 2 soon to be out. Note that when their "peace and prosperity will end" part happens , would not happen until like the 3rd chapter or so. Special thanks to Castro._**


	2. Chapter 2 : A Decisive Dinner

After about 30 minutes of the big fight between Marcus and Quintus Maximus he returned into his book about Alexander. But before he could read a single word a servant came in the room.  
"It is time for dinner , sir." he said. Quintus sighed , put his book down and went to the dinner room.

The dinner room was rather dark and lighted by torches. Near the walls there were columns and the dinner table was white. There were fruit , veggies , wine , high quality bread , high quality cheese and meat. There were praetorian guards guarding the entrances into the dinner room. The people sitting down were Quintus's father , Placus , Regelus (_which was odd because the usually ate as a family_) , his mother , and his brother , Flavius. When Quintus entered the room his father excused the praetorians to guard outside and close the doors.

Quintus sat down and ate , talking with his family. It was when he was biting into a piece of meat when Flavius Maximus came up the subject of who was going to be the next emperor. Placus with his golden emperor crown frowned and said ,  
"You two still have not figured this problem out have you? My word it has been going for a year now!"  
"But father you don't understand! How would you like it if -"  
"Oh yes I do understand! You both , power hungry!"  
"I'm not power hungry!" Quintus protested. "I just don't think Flavius would really...well...do a good job running Rome."  
"Liar!" Flavius shouted back.  
"This will be enough!" Their father yelled , banging his fist on the table. It effectively silenced the two brothers.  
Suddenly Regelus whispered something into Placus's ear. Placus's face of anger turned into a face of interest.  
"Alright..." Placus said. "I will decide the heir of my crown by stating it in a piece of paper. After I die the piece of paper shall be found. But however , any who that dares to start one more damned argument will be turned down as the heir if they already aren't one without a second thought!"  
"But... how will you choose the next emperor?" Flavius said , daringly.  
"That , the senators and I , will discuss..." Placus Said. The family ate the rest of their dinner silently.

After the dinner the two brothers did not dare start another argument. But with that they also did not talk to each other. The palace seemed unusual without any more arguments. Flavius did not act so ill mannered as much and Quintus acted much more creepily polite with Marcus and Julia. A few days after the dinner , Placus Maximus also hosted a meeting with his senators. Soon there were arguments between the senators and the Emperor.  
"Quintus would be much more better of an emperor , Rome needs not a iron fist!"  
"Yes it shall or an unsteady empire it shall be!"  
"Enough , enough!" Placus yelled out. He sighed and sat down. After a while of silence in the room , Placus stood up and announced , "The heir shall be chosen tomorrow!" And the last decision it seemingly was.

**_Hope you enjoyed my 2nd chapter of my fanfiction and website. Be sure to review so I'm not posting these for myself! Special thanks to Castro._**


	3. Chapter 3 : Tragic

It was night. The day before the announcement of the heir of Rome. Quintus was playing tag with his cousins in the torch-lit garden of the Roman Palace. Julia was playing as good as she could. Marcus was taunting and cheated most of the time. Quintus was not even trying. He was dragging his feet "trying" to get his cousins when he heard a few yells. He looked up at the palace from the Garden to see what was happening. There were praetorian guards running around , with their Gladius drawn.

Shocked , he called for Marcus and Julia. They appeared behind a bush with their tongues out.  
"Catch us if you can!" they both chanted.  
"Get back here you two! There's something bad happening in the palace!" Quintus replied.  
"Oh no we won't , you're just trying to trick us!" the cousins replied , together.  
"Then why are the guards running around then , hm?"  
The two cousins looked up , their faces turned grave and frightened. They ran towards Quintus and he brought his two younger cousins into the palace.

When he got into the palace and saw a praetorian run by he yelled ,  
"Hey guard , what's going on?"  
The guard wore decorated leather armor and an iron helmet with a sort of red Mohawk on top. The young face turned his head towards Quintus and said , "There's an assassin sir! Someone's been killed!" Quintus cussed and told him to take care of Marcus and Julia.  
"Where did it happen , Guard?"  
"I've heard it happened in the Emperor's room , sir!"  
No. It couldn't be. No! Quintus ran towards this father's room without another word.

He got to the doorway into his Father's room. The door was open and the dark place was crowded with praetorian guards. There was also Flavius , his mother and Regelus. Flavius had a sad face of disappointment. His mother was in tears. Regelus had a straight face that seemed to say "so be it". But where was his father? It can't be!  
"No! What has happened here? What has happened I demand!" All the praetorians looked at him with serious and sad faces. One guard stepped out of the crowd and seemed to stand out of the others. Most likely the centurion. He had much more decorated armor and helmet , which even had gold outlines. His helmet , unlike the other guards , had a sort of sideways Mohawk. His face belonged to an old war veteran with several scars.

"Our great emperor ... of Rome ... has been killed." Tears slowly filled Quintus's eyes , he trembled , and walked slowly towards the doorway of his father's room. The guards moved out of the way as their emperor's son walked. Quintus approached the doorway and saw a , through his blurry eyes , his father on floor. Blood was across the floor. Rome's emperor , with a knife in his bloody chest. There seemed to be a servant also on the floor with blood , but through Quintus's blurry eyes he did not care. He fell on his knees , put his hands to his face , and cried. It was a silent sort of cry. Tears went through the hands covering his face.

The guards , Regelus , and Flavius watched silently. The former emperess cried loudly. Regelus then walked infront of the crowd , drew his and Gladius out and pointed above the crowd.  
"Today , great men and women of Rome , is a sad day! A miserable so called servant of ours have betrayed our great emperor! His filthy soul no more worth then a foolish barbarian!"  
"But fallen under a knife of un-honorable dishonestly , our great emperor has fallen , having a great life and leading the empire into another era of greatness. But fallen a great emperor , comes a new emperor." Regelus then held out a bloody parchment with no more than several words.  
"The announcement of the heir , was to be announced tomorrow by our former emperor. But with great fortune , it has been decided today in order for an early announcement. Welcome the great new emperor of Rome , that will lead her into another great era!"

Regelus then looked at his bloody parchment and spoke.  
"Flavius Maximus!" All the praetorian guard bowed down to their new emperor. Regelus gave Flavius the crown of the entire Roman Empire.  
"Welcome , the new emperor of the great Roman Empire!" Regelus then bowed down himself.

Flavius slowly put the crown on his head , with not a face of joy , but a face of regret.

_**Hope you enjoyed my , ah , tragic chapter. Please post reviews and once again , special thanks to Castro. **_


	4. Chapter 4 : Devision

**_Exploited trust to any nation is devastating_**

Flavius took a bite of an apple at his throne ,then threw it against the wall in frustration. He stood up and walked around in thought and came to look out a window that flooded the room with sunlight. Suddenly , the gigantic door that was the entrance to the room of Rome's emperor was open. Two praetorians opened the door , the left guard by pushing the left side with his right arm , and the right guard pushing the left side with his left arm. Coming out was the Emperor's advisor , Regelus. Holding a parchment he raised his left hand , signaling the robotic seemly guards to close the door , and bowed to his emperor. He then gave the parchment to Flavius.

"News about Quintus , my emperor," he said , with a smile. Flavius unrolled the parchment and read the words. He dropped the parchment and closed his eyes. He moved his head to face the ceiling and put his hand to his forehead.  
"May the gods help me."

**_Before the news_**

Quintus was holding a secret meeting with his most trusted senators and praetorian guards. The room was filled with talking until Quintus settled the crowd of his most trusted people. They were all sitting on a half circled shaped room , the seats of the people were on the curved side of the room while Quintus was high up and on the center of the straight side of the room.  
"We have come here to discuss about the death of Placus Maximus , our former emperor! I have concerns that our emperor was killed by not who we suspect , a suspicious personality Flavius has been having."  
"Are you implying that Flavius has ... planned this out , for the sake of the crown of Rome?" replied a senator named Vibius.  
"As dreadful the news seems my dear Vibius , yes. Yes I am." Quintus sighed and then said more.

"This is why we have gathered all today." Quintus said to the crowd of senators and praetorians.  
"With all due respect sir , but shouldn't we investigate to see if it was really him first?" a praetorian suggested. Quintus shook his head in disgust.  
"Flavius's personality the past few days is enough proof don't you think?" replied Quintus impatiently.  
"Also that he was near the room of Placus Maximus when the assassination happened." said another praetorian.  
The crowd agreed with murmurs.

Quintus raised his hand and silenced the crowd.  
"We have gathered here not only to prove Flavius is a murderer , but also , to overthrow him!" Half of the crowd cheered , half of the crowd share uncertain faces.  
Quintus , noticing this yelled some rather remarkable encouragements. By the end of his words , all of the Romans in room cheered.  
When the cheering ended Quintus told them his plan.  
"To overthrow Flavius , we cannot simply storm the palace and kill him. He is too heavily guarded after the assassination of my father. We would need to gain more support , and doing it so only in this palace would be much too risky." He paused.

"In order to overthrow Flavius Maximus , we must gain support from not inside , but outside. Thus , meaning we must gain an army outside of Rome , and fight Flavius in a battle!" The group of Quintus's Romans Cheered once again. "We shall sneak out the palace at night , travel to the south of Italy , there we shall gain an army to defeat the scum!" The cheering came again as Quintus told more plans.

**_After the news , and in the view of Flavius._**

Flavius , some of his generals , and Regelus was discussing about their situation.  
"Quintus and his men have his small group of men south of Italy," said Aublius , one of Flavius's generals.  
Flavius snorted.  
"So what threat is that traitor if he has no more than 50 men? Send a search part and hunt them down!"  
"But not so fast sire , they have gathered an army while traveling south , they now lay at the edge of south Italy with a camp and are growing every second."  
"With how much men , exactly?" Flavius asked.  
"30,000 sir."  
"Pathetic! We have 50,000 men stationed in Italy , rally them all and prepare to strike!"  
"But sir , I high suggest that you wait a little and get some men outside of Italy , some horsemen from the north and some archers from Syria , perhaps?" "We would much better prepared and-"

"Nonsense! They grow every second , you said it yourself , the slow we gather the more they grow!" Flavius yelled furiously.  
"But sir , it would be rather risky - especially with their superiority of hor-"  
"SHUT UP!" Flavius yelled, pushing items off the table.  
"Are you saying you do not trust me , Aublius? You do not think I , emperor of the known world , will be able to defeat an idiot! You do not also question me but the soldiers of Rome! The finest soldiers since those damned Spartans! In that case I would consider you a TRAITOR!"  
Aublius dared not to speak anymore. Flavius sighed and told one of his generals to send a message to rally armies.

"And I first regretted this! Hahaha!"

**_Hope you enjoyed my 4th chapter of my fanfiction! Hope you enjoyed it and please review! Much special thanks to Castro! 5th one coming out soon!_**


	5. Chapter 5 : Preparation

**_Sorry rather short chapter here if you don't count the facts and such lol_**

Flavius watched his mighty legions rally into cohorts. He had never seen such a big army , let alone an army.  
"Equipped with the finest gear and filled with the greatest skill and discipline sir." Aubilus had told him.  
"All of these men look invincible!" said Flavius , laughing. "Why have you doubt with such a high ranking you hold?"  
"Well sire , your cavalry just don't seem-"  
"What use are horses against the finest soldiers?" Flavius laughed , and raised his hand to silence him before any more annoyingness.

**_[SOME INFOMATION ABOUT ROMAN LEGIONNARIES BELOW , AVOID IF YOU FIND IT BORING , IT DOES NOT MATTER WITH ACTUAL PLOT]_**

The Roman Legionnaires were one of the finest fighting forces in history. They were the backbone of the Roman Empire because of their high quality of discipline , equipment , and tactics. The main equipment they had were the Lorica Segmentata , 2 Pilum , the Gladius , the Scutum , and the Galea.  
The Lorica Segmentata was the armor of the Legionnaires , it was iron plate armor , was flexable , and offered good protection.  
The Galea was the iron helmet of the Legionnaires , it offered good protection to the head.  
The Scutum was the roman shield , it was a rectangular shield that was 2 feet wide and 4 feet long. It was made to curve around a soldiers body and was well decorated. It also weighed up to 22 pounds!  
The Pilum was the throwing javelin of the Roman Legions. They were armed with one heavy and one light one , they could almost penetrate anything.  
The Gladius was the short stabbing sword. It was double edged and was 30 inches long. It was a good stabbing sword and worked well with it's shield.

Not only did the combination of the Roman Legions worked very well against it's enemies , but their discipline were superb. Their training were harsh and crucial , but it outcome with the finest soldiers. Infact to assure discipline still remained in the legions , sometimes after loosing a battle or so , a Cohort would have every 10th soldiers in line be beaten to death by his fellow comrades.

**_[NOW ENOUGH WITH INFOMATION]_**

**_While in the view of Quintus Maximus...  
_**_  
_It was night , Quintus's army of lesser quality soldiers were in their spare time , something they were never given before. Quintus was in his tent with his general , Vibus planning about the upcoming battle when a messenger entered the tent. Quintus unrolled the parchment and read.  
"Excellent!" he said. "Flavius's army has fallen for the trap , and is going south instead of gathering a more proper army or staying. I knew he would do that because of his impatience."  
"With luck with such a trait , he would probably tire his army before arriving to us , while we get to stay here for better preparation!" said Vibus.  
"Indeed Vibius , everything is going as planned." replied Quintus.

"However sire , I still worry about Flavius's army , they outnumber us and out-skill us." Quintus unrolled the parchment and put it on the table.  
He looked back at the map they were planning with.  
"Then we should use tactics. Strategies. Notice how their cavalry are small numbered , even high quality would be nothing against spearmen and archers." said Quintus.  
"Yes , I understand sire... but I'm sure the cavalry would do something better than charge directly towards spearmen?" questioned Vibus.  
"They could easily not use cavalry at all and have their infantry only go."  
"Notice the high grass."  
"I see..."

It was several weeks after the planning , and the hurried Roman army of Flavius Maximus was getting closer. It was evening and Quintus's army were done having their 3rd meal. Quintus held a meeting with some of his generals again.  
"Flavius's army is moving closer , we shall prepare for a battle tomorrow." They all agreed and discussed more things about the battle. After , the news went around the camp of Quintus's army that had grown up to already 35,000 men. The soldiers then slept for what might be their last.

**_Hope you enjoyed , again! Sorry this was rather short though , but hey at least I'm posting a chapter everyday! More special thanks to Castro and as always , please review!_**


End file.
